A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to use of resonant devices to measure temperature and, in particular, to fabrication and use of such devices for improved performance and versatility for a wide variety of applications.
B. Related Art
Use of resonant devices to transduce temperature is well-known. Certain crystal cuts can provide high temperature dependence on the resonant frequency of the crystal. See, e.g., Goyal, A., Zhang, Y., and Tadigadapa, S., “Y-Cut Quartz Resonator Based calorimetric Sensor”, SENSORS, 2005 IEEE (Oct. 30, 2005-Nov. 3, 2005) incorporated by reference herein.
However, it has been discovered that conventional uses and modes of operation of such sensors present certain limitations in, inter alia, their use, accuracy, and applications. For example, current conventional configurations of such sensors raise the following issues:                a. Response times. Limitations on response times tend to limit usefulness of the sensors.        b. High cost. Cost can affect practical applicability.        c. Cumbersome nature/complexity. Such factors can also affect practical applicability.        d. Mass loading effect. This can confound temperature-related frequency shift with simultaneous mass loading effects.        e. Size. Even though current configurations are quite small, their form factor presents limitations (e.g. limits the number that can be fabricated on a given chip area).        f. Sensitivity. It has been discovered that the well-known relationship between resonant frequency of the resonator and temperature leaves room for improvement in sensitivity of the sensor.        
Thus, room for improvement exists in this technical field.